Bi amping comp sets

[JMZNeal]

So i've got a question about bi-amping a set of comp speakers.

For instance if you had a 125watt rms set of 2 way comps and bi-amped them obviously your still running each driver at 4ohm. but what happens to the power handling. Do you still put 125 per driver? wouldn't that be twice what the x-over could handle?

I had a guy tell me that each driver is still getting the full power from the channel your x-over is on just the HZ is split and separated so there's no point in bi-amping. I understand the efficiency of using an active x-over with bandpass before the amp like how my 360.2 works for my horns and mids and all that but i don't understand passive x-overs i don't guess because your still at 4ohm with or with out the other driver.

Also what if i paralleled a set down to 2ohm. would that change anything on the x-over? What if I did both? Bi-amped a set at 2ohms

I've got a plan for 2 set's of comps in doors and a 4channel amp but I want the most power out of it i can get.

Can anyone tell me the best approach to that?

Edited October 4, 2011 by JMZNeal

[MrSkippyJ]

The product manual should tell you the RMS per speaker, use that to determine RMS.

One of the biggest benefits of bi-amp or active is the ability to adjust the tweeter level AND the mid woofer level. Yes active is more efficient but using passive crossovers doesn't absorb very much power. I think someone said about 20%. It is not insignificant but for a rather large amount of people it is nothing to worry about.

The ohm load on changes crossover points if you change the ohm load after the crossover (ie, 2 speakers on a single crossover output) so if you want to use 2 speakers with passive crossovers on a single channel of an amp, run 2 wires from the amp to 2 crossovers then to the 2 speakers. In your case, each crossover will have 2 inputs since you are bi-amping so in total you will have 8 wires coming from your amps (or 4 wires that split BEFORE the crossovers).

That will give you 2 ohms on each channel and will allow the crossover circuit to remain at 4 ohms.

At least I am pretty sure that is how it works

[JMZNeal]

Thank you. But can you put too much power in the x-over. If i'm pushing 125 into each driver bi-amped can the x-over handle the extra power. I know they have power limits. or would i be better off just bridging the amp to 2ohm and not worry about bi-amping?

[OrionStang]

The power handling of the crossover is a good question. I would like to know this as well. You don't want to bridge the amp, you will lose your stereo effect.

Edited October 4, 2011 by OrionStang

[MrSkippyJ]

bridging and stereo start to get really confusing so stay away from that. As far as power handling, the crossover should be able to handle what ever the speaker can.

[OrionStang]

bridging and stereo start to get really confusing so stay away from that. As far as power handling, the crossover should be able to handle what ever the speaker can.

I have to question this. I have a 3way set rated at 150 per side. Now, if you break that set down to individual speakers, each driver is rated at 150. So shouldn't the crossover be able to handle 450 watts?(3x150)

[JMZNeal]

IDK. if i do a 4ch amp then it would still be stereo either way i did it. I was just wanting to know about the power handling of the x-over and driver. and if bi-amping would be any better than running them straight out like intended.

[OrionStang]

Power-wise, you'll be the same. It allows for more control, allowing you to adjust the mids and tweets separately from eachother.

[MrSkippyJ]

bridging and stereo start to get really confusing so stay away from that. As far as power handling, the crossover should be able to handle what ever the speaker can.

I have to question this. I have a 3way set rated at 150 per side. Now, if you break that set down to individual speakers, each driver is rated at 150. So shouldn't the crossover be able to handle 450 watts?(3x150)

I am not totally sure to be honest. With my RF set, the total power handling was the combined power handling of the tweet and mid.

[JMZNeal]

CLICKY

I dug around until i found something that answered my question.......

Using two amplifiers and two sets of speaker cables to drive the existing passive crossover is something I call "passive biamping" or "active biwiring". Various websites may claim that it's true biamping, but it's not, never was and never will be.

In some cases users may hear an improvement, but make sure that it really is an improvement and not just a difference. Because you have separate amps driving the two sections of the crossover, you can easily have a level mismatch that leads you to think that the sound is "better". The gains of the two amps used must be identical, or the original balance between mid and high will be changed. Naturally the specific frequency depends on where the passive crossover splits the signal. Apart from (usually) a slightly easier load on the amps, both amplifiers still reproduce the full audio bandwidth, so there is no effective power gain.

In general, it is likely that the improvement - assuming there is an actual improvement of course - will be small. It will commonly be so small that the additional cost cannot be justified, but this is cold comfort if you've already bought the amplifiers and speaker cables. Speaking of which, make sure that you read the articles on this site about "high end" (rip-off IMO) speaker cables before parting with large sums of money.

..........i took from this that both channels still put out full range and the cross over eats what isn't allowed through. From what i gather 100watts into a crossover comes out 100watts per driver minus the power lost in the inefficiency of the crossover. So running bi amped on the crossover isn't as efficient as it sounds because lots of power is lost filtering lows from highs and visa versa. Loving my 360.2 more and more every day...

Edited October 4, 2011 by JMZNeal